Overview:
Mock drafts project Mitchell to be selected anywhere from the late first round to the late second round
Ajay Mitchell felt like he was a kid back in Belgium as he spun toward the basket at the Indiana Pacers’ training facility.
“When I was little, I’d play in my backyard, acting like I was an NBA player,” he said after working out with five other basketball hopefuls.
“I wasn’t pretending to be anyone in particular — I was always playing as myself in the NBA.”
UC Santa Barbara’s star point guard realized how close he was to realizing that childhood dream when basketball Hall of Famer Larry Bird entered Indianapolis’ St. Vincent Center for the June 12 workout.
Bird, who served two stints as the Pacers’ president of basketball operations, returned to the club last summer as a special consultant.
“Once he walked in, I was like, ‘I recognize him,’” Mitchell said. “Working out in front of Larry Bird was so amazing and special, getting to showcase my game in front of him.
“It’s been amazing at every place I’ve gone, playing in front of GMs and head coaches, and even some of the NBA players who’ve come to the workouts.”
A session on Monday in Boston — the city where Bird earned the nickname of “Larry Legend” — will be the last of Mitchell’s 19 NBA workouts.
“I’ve had quite a few,” he conceded. “Obviously, you feel a little tired, but it’s been great. I love it … It’s been a fun experience and I’m grateful.
“I’d rather have a lot of workouts than none.”
He’ll fly back to Santa Barbara to celebrate his 22nd birthday on Tuesday.
And then, if all goes well, he’ll be celebrating again when the NBA holds its annual draft on Wednesday and Thursday.
“It’s going to be a crazy week,” Mitchell told Noozhawk with a laugh.
Both ABC-TV and ESPN will televise the first round live from Brooklyn’s Barclays Center at 5 p.m. Wednesday Pacific time. Thursday’s second round will begin at 1 p.m. and be shown only on ESPN.
Brief Timeout
Mitchell was in New York on Friday for a workout with the Knicks. He then took a well-deserved breather this weekend to fly to Madison, Wisconsin, to visit his sister, Alexis, and ponder his immediate future.
He’s encouraged by the feedback he’s been receiving.
“There are definitely a lot of teams that are looking at me in the late first and early second rounds,” he said. “It will be interesting to see where I end up.”
The most recent mock drafts vary widely in their projections for Mitchell.
On3.com has the Washington Wizards selecting him late in the first round with the No. 26 pick.
ESPN predicts that he’ll go late in the second round to the Los Angeles Clippers at No. 46.
A consensus of all mock drafts slots him at No. 35 with the San Antonio Spurs.
“Any team would be good,” Mitchell said.
He’s had a good three-year run at UCSB, supplanting current Los Angeles Lakers guard Gabe Vincent at No. 10 on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,463 points.
He averaged an even 20 with four assists this last year despite playing the entire season on injured ankles.
“They haven’t been bothering me at all during this process with the NBA, which is really exciting,” Mitchell said.
“Now I’m just excited to be able to play at 100% so I can show what I can do.”
He also had a good showing in Chicago at the NBA Combine the week of May 12-19. He averaged 7.0 points and 4.5 assists in a pair of scrimmages.
Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints.com noted that he “helped his draft stock tenfold” in those contests.
“He may not be the most explosive guard, but Mitchell’s abilities to impact the game on both ends as a combo guard has drawn buzz at the combine,” Siegel reported.
“Keep an eye on him rising up boards.”
Best in the Big West
Mitchell was impactful at UCSB from Day One. He was voted as the Big West Conference’s Freshman of the Year in 2022.
He won the league’s Player of the Year Award in 2023 while leading the Gauchos to a school-record 27 victories and their most recent NCAA Tournament appearance.
Brian Shaw, the point guard of UCSB’s first NCAA Division I Tournament team of 1988, is the only Gaucho ever chosen in the first round. The Boston Celtics took him with the 24th pick that year.
Shaw played in the NBA for 14 seasons, winning three championship rings with the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s now an assistant coach with the Clippers.
Only two other Gauchos were picked in the second round: Richard Anderson by the Clippers in 1982 and Orlando Johnson by the Sacramento Kings in 2012.
Mitchell, a 6-foot-4 junior, would join former Laker Don Ford — a UCSB junior in 1975 — as the only Gauchos to ever leave school early for the NBA.
He didn’t turn professional too early despite the efforts of several European clubs.
Mitchell held his own at age 18 — the youngest player in France’s elite Espoirs Division — while playing against grown men for Nanterre.
Limburg United was impressed enough to give him a shot in Belgium’s top professional league during the COVID-19 craziness of the 2020-2021 season.
Mitchell, who kept his status as an amateur, played with a pro’s savvy while averaging 7.4 points and nearly three assists per game.
He also had a good run with Belgium’s U18 team at the European Championships in Romania with averages of 11.5 points and 3.6 assists.
Several European clubs soon offered him serious money. He opted instead to accept a scholarship offer from UCSB.
“It was important for me to go to college first,” Mitchell said. “My dad (former Norfolk State star Barry Mitchell) played college ball. My sisters played college volleyball.
“All my siblings played college sports, so I always wanted to do that.
“It was important to show that I can compete against bigger, stronger athletes, and show that a European kid can make it in college.”
Old College Try
He first caught the eye of John Rillie, the Gauchos’ associate head coach at the time, while playing at the European Championships in Romania.
“He mostly talked to my parents at that time,” Mitchell said. “After that, once we got on a few calls, I started to hear about Santa Barbara.
“I knew it was a beautiful place, but I didn’t realize just how beautiful at first.
“I definitely felt it was something special when I stepped onto campus and went into Santa Barbara for the first time.”
He conveyed that message to Stephan Swenson, his successor at point guard for the Gauchos.
Swenson is another lefthander from Belgium who is transferring from Stetson University as a graduate student.
“I’ve known him for quite a while — played with him and against him a lot,” Mitchell said. “He’s a little shorter than me but he’s a good playmaker and creator.
“He’s a great guy, a great kid. He’ll do some great things here at UCSB.”
Mitchell was just a lanky kid from Liége — 6-foot-2 and 170 pounds — when he first arrived in Santa Barbara.
He’ll be a grown man at 6-4 and 200 when he gathers with his family for a combination birthday-draft party this week.
His mother, Fabienne Wagemans, is even flying into town from Belgium.
“It’ll be fun to go through this with my family and my friends,” Mitchell said. “My teammates and coaches will be there, too, along with all those people who’ve helped me along the way.
“It’ll be a special moment.”
Several power conference schools sought his transfer after the 2023 season, but Mitchell never wavered from the course that brought him to this moment.
“UCSB got me closer to my NBA goals so I’m happy with all my decisions,” he said. “It was a great, great three years for me here.
“I got better as a basketball player every year. And as a person, this place taught me how to deal with adversity, turning me from a young man into an adult.”
But it goes beyond that, he added.
“Being from overseas, I found a new family here,” Mitchell said. “The whole community welcomed me.
“It’s felt like home since Day One.”
And that it will remain, he insisted, no matter what city is listed on his next jersey.